Ballet to Bullets; A day in the life of small town America

[MichaelHarris]

Yesterday afternoon, in Moscow,Id I had to shoot ballet portraits. I figured the Nikon D70s would be so much easier to use than film so I loaded it up. Shot my 147 shots and realized I hat a hot pixel. I have the extended warranty so after the shoot I dropped it off to get fixed up. Back-up body? Naww, you really don't need it right?

This morning at 2am I get a call from my niece, "There's a guy in Moscow shooting people on the street!" We all want to dodge bullets right? That's what cameras were made for. Oops, my body is locked in the shop. Well what could fill that void? My Nikkormat FT2, perfect. It's beat to death, been shot at and still works.

Off I went with a couple of lenses and 3 rolls of film. I got to the the police barricade and the lady asked, "Where are you going?" before I could answer she saw the camera and asked, "Oh press right?" I said, "Ummm, yeah, press that's me". She showed me where to park and where the media area was with coffee and donuts. I got over there, looked down the street and thought, "You can't see anything from here."

I went down an alley to another barricade. Police officers were escorting people out of the shooters range and as they looked the other way off I went. I found a brick wall with some cover and a bush I could hide in. I shot about 2 rolls from there. Mostly of Swat staging to storm the Church the guy was in. I starting getting thirsty and cop donuts sounded good so I went back to the media area.

As I got back to the police line a bunch of TV media guys started questioning me and wanting my pictures. I told them sure, you can have them. The CBS guy said, "We have a computer and card reader right in the Mobile Media Assault vehicle". Man, I looked and looked, I couldn't find a memory card in the Nikkormat. I told them I would run home and develop the film so they gave me business cards.

They them asked me how I got behind the police lines. I said, "Come on, I'll show you". I took two crews in, they looked a little skittish. I guess the gun weary ones are elsewhere. I showed them a safe place with some cover and they shot some tape. As I was coming out the second time I finally got busted. They were nice about though.

They had a press conference at 9am and since I had never seen one I decided to go. I even asked a question, man I was getting brave and this "press" thing was feeling good. If you see the press conference I'm the guy who asked about the weapon and local militia groups. I wanted to ask a follow-up but it was sort of a hot topic question. I wanted to ask if this weapon was on the ban list that Bush let lapse. People love their guns, even the ones that can shoot about a thousand rounds a minute.

Now the disclaimer. I wrote this in a light-hearted way, an adventure sort of. The most important thing to remember is that a police officer died today in the line of duty, the first one ever in Moscow, Id. These people put their lives on the line to protect us, that's something to be respected.

Whatever your position is on gun control or film vs digital thank a police officer today. They would really appreciate it.

Michael Harris Film in the chemistry as we speak

[Tara_NM]

1. will do and can we see the pics?

WOW! What a story, yikes.

On a lighter note though- as a former ballet dancer myself I would love to see some of your photos taken that day!

[MichaelHarris]

2. The ballet

portraits turned out wonderful. I'll post some here is a bit, I shot those on digital. This mornings stuff was shot on film because I had dropped the digital body off for cleaning. Here's the funny part, after leaving the area I went looking for a one hour place to get the film done.

The first place I went to stopped doing 1 hour and the second place had their machine down for repair. I have a Jobo color processor here at home so I'm warming the water bath now and mixing the chemicals. I'll post 3 or 4 shots from the Ballet and the "event" in a couple of hours. Takes a while for the film to dry.

[Tara_NM]

3. :)

awesome... looking forward to it!

[MichaelHarris]

4. First batch dry

This kind of stuff isn't supposed to happen. I'll ask my assault weapon ban question at tomorrows press conference.

The ballet is on the big computer, I'll hop over in a sec and grab those. They are a little more cheerful.

[ninkasi]

5. It was quite a leap, wasn't it?

"Ballet to bullets." You got some good shots, and I hope you get to ask your question about assault weapons again. We shouldn't allow them.

[Tara_NM]

6. nice

Great pics.... I look forward to seeing the ballet ones too.

ps- your siggy would be funny if it wasn't so darn true!

[northofdenali]

7. Kicking for the night crew -

nice shots, I just wish they hadn't had to be real. What a sad day for Moscow and all of Idaho; condolences to the officer's family. I understand another officer was wounded, as was a bystander.

The assault weapon question was the very first thing that entered my mind when I read the story. Hopefully, you'll get to bring it up.

K&R

[MichaelHarris]

8. So far I think

One officer dead, one wounded. One citizen dead and another wounded trying to help the downed officer. Some late breaking news just flashed, they are looking for the shooters girlfriend or something. I hate to even think about it but who knows what the shooter did before he left his house.

Not one reporter in the room asked about the weapon, about how easy it is to get an SKS at gun shows. How they are very common with militia nuts and white supremacists. I don't know for sure if it was on the ban list but it should be. It has no other purpose except for converting and killing.

I think these guys will sell you one online:

http://world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl01-e.htm

The bayonet really helps, when you shoot the deer and he's still a little bit alive you can walk up and start stabbing him. The grenade launcher helps if you a really bad shot. You can just lob a grenade at squirrels, rabbits, and stuff. Real practical.

We all need one right? Isn't that why George didn't sign the assault weapon ban? If more of us are armed then stuff like this and V-Tech wouldn't happen right? Sounds good on paper until you realize the police officer who died today was armed and trained, his weapon didn't even get fired. I'm pretty sure this puts a giant hole in the, "arm everyone" theory.

[scrinmaster]

12. SKS's were legal during the ban.

Grenades are illegal, and have been so since 1934.

And that site is based in Russia and can't sell guns, other than airsoft. Buying a gun online is no different that getting one from a gun store, you still do the background check and all that stuff.

[MichaelHarris]

13. so I can't

get the grenade launcher? I need the bayonet to stab stuff.

[krispos42]

16. Alas, no grenade launcher

However, if you own an AR-style rifle, you can get a marine flare launcher that LOOKS like an under-barrel M203 grenade launcher, if you absolutely need to feel like Ahnuld in "Predator". Or so I've heard.

Never bothered to look myself. I have a shotgun if I need to shoot flares.

Stabbing stuff is, of course, optional... :-)

[beevul]

18. The thing about that theory...

"We all need one right? Isn't that why George didn't sign the assault weapon ban? If more of us are armed then stuff like this and V-Tech wouldn't happen right? Sounds good on paper until you realize the police officer who died today was armed and trained, his weapon didn't even get fired. I'm pretty sure this puts a giant hole in the, "arm everyone" theory."

It is not and never has been the "arm everyone" theory. Its the "let those that have gone through background checks and gotten governmental approval carry concealed weapons" theory. And the police that died there today, showed up after the fact, just as they did in the VT incident. They weren't there and armed when the shooting began.

Also, according to most reports on this I have read, the weapon in question was an assault rifle, and not an assault weapon, though there are much conflicting reports, and the details seem to keep changing depending which media source you read. If indeed it was an assault rifle involved in this incident, then the assault weapons ban would have nothing to do with it, and would not be applicable in this case.


Just saying.

[benEzra]

21. The SKS is the single most common civilian rifle in America, I think...

Not one reporter in the room asked about the weapon, about how easy it is to get an SKS at gun shows. How they are very common with militia nuts and white supremacists.

IF it was an SKS, the SKS is IIRC the most common civilian rifle in America. My wife owns one (a very collectible 1952 Tula); here's hers, with her 9mm for scale.

I don't know for sure if it was on the ban list but it should be. It has no other purpose except for converting and killing.

Converting to full auto, you mean? I have never heard of an SKS illegally converted to full auto. Like all civilian-legal rifles, SKS's aren't easy to convert (any gun that is easily converted is restricted to police/military/government use only by the National Firearms Act). I suppose it is possible by someone with the necessary skills and equipment, but certainly not common.

Considering that SKS's are the most popular centerfire rifle in America, and that all rifles COMBINED account for less than 3% of homicides, I'd say that SKS's aren't used for killing much at all. Rifles are rarely misused in the United States.

The SKS is pretty much identical to this short-range deer rifle--same caliber (7.62x39mm), same rate of fire, same effective range, same range of magazine capacities available, etc.):


http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/FAProdView?model=5806&return=Y

The bayonet really helps, when you shoot the deer and he's still a little bit alive you can walk up and start stabbing him.

The bayonet is only of interest to collectors, unless you believe that a spear is more dangerous than a rifle. The bayonet on my wife's SKS isn't even sharp.

The dangerous part of any rifle is the little hole in the end of the barrel.

The grenade launcher helps if you a really bad shot. You can just lob a grenade at squirrels, rabbits, and stuff. Real practical.

Some collectible SKS's (Yugoslavian) have vestigial "grenade launchers" (fat muzzles that would allow you to stick a finned rifle grenade over the end of the barrel and launch it by firing a blank through the rifle), but are of collector interest only since civilians can't get antique rifle grenades (possession of a grenade without Federal authorization is a 10-year felony, BTW). Many antique rifles have such "grenade launchers."

Real grenade launchers in the modern sense (gun type, e.g. the M203 you often see attached to M16's) are restricted to military/police only, unless you obtain Federal authorization to possess one. Unauthorized possession is a 10-year felony under Federal law.

We all need one right? Isn't that why George didn't sign the assault weapon ban?

SKS's aren't generally considered "assault weapons." They're even legal in California, which says a lot.

[krispos42]

9. Brave of you to run towards the sounds of gunfire

When most people run away. Glad you came away unscathed and not in prison. Or clubbed into submission by neanderthal police officers that don't like reporters.

Regarding the weapon in question, it is important to know that the ban was on cosmetic features of new rifles sold. For example, a semi-automatic rifle could have (on a federal level, at least) a detachable magazine and two of the following: protruding pistol grip, folding/telescoping buttstock, bayonet mount, or flash supressor. Pre-ban rifles that would later be considered an 'assault weapon' were still perfectly legal to own and transfer.

This DU post will help. The gun in question is the exact same one in all pictures. Exact same serial number.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=134768&mesg_id=134799

The Wikipedia article will help also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban

[MichaelHarris]

10. Thanks

I didn't know a lot about the SKS except is was popular at gun shows and stuff.

[krispos42]

11. No problem

The Brady Campaign is notorious for bad information. And the NRA is known for frothing-at-the-mouth rhetoric. Yippee...

[MichaelHarris]

14. can the SKS

be converted to full auto? I need info so I don't look stupid at tomorrows press conference.

[krispos42]

15. Not without extensive modification

Like, machine shop kind. If it was 'easy', the ATF would not allow the importation of them. It's against the law.

Well, not necessarily a machine shop. But you'd need to know what new parts you needed to make, as in the exact dimensions, then fabricate them and modify the gun to accept them. Any semi-automatic firearms can be converted to full-auto if you try hard enough and have the skills and knowledge. The fact that they are exceedingly rare to find testifies to this fact.

Supposidly you can buy kits on the internet to convert them, but I've never seen them, either online or at the few gunshows I've been to.

It would probably be easier just to make your own.

http://www.thehomegunsmith.com

The downloadable PDF file is interesting and jaw-droppingly simple.

I would also note that the ammunition fired by the AK-47 pattern and SKS rifles is the 7.62mm Russian cartridge, which is significantly less powerful than nearly all deer-hunting rifles. Just in case it comes up. I can elaborate if you wish.

[benEzra]

24. Here's a good source for background info on SKS variants

from a collectors' site:

Collecting and Shooting the SKS Carbine

[beevul]

17. Question Michael...

There have been conflicting reports as to whether it was automatic weapons fire or not.


In your experience there did you find out anything concrete as to whether it was automatic weapons fire?

On edit: Was there some implication that an SKS was used in this crime? I saw you mentioning one in an earlier post, and it made me wonder.

[MichaelHarris]

25. At the press

conference the chief police guy said SKS or SKS type automatic weapon. Also residents mentioned rapid fire. So far 4 clips were found in the parking lot. That's all I know for now. I missed the 11am press conference because I was editing pictures, it was a busy weekend.

UPDATE: http://www.kxly.com/news/?sect_rank=1§ion_id=559&story_id=11222

Why would a police chief say SKS weapon one day and it turns out to be a AK-47?

[benEzra]

29. SKS and some civilian AK derivatives (Saigas) look similar...

At the press conference the chief police guy said SKS or SKS type automatic weapon. Also residents mentioned rapid fire. So far 4 clips were found in the parking lot. That's all I know for now. I missed the 11am press conference because I was editing pictures, it was a busy weekend.

UPDATE: http://www.kxly.com/news/?sect_rank=1§ion_id=559&st...

Why would a police chief say SKS weapon one day and it turns out to be a AK-47?

SKS's and some civilian AK derivatives (Saigas) look similar. Real AK-47's are very tightly controlled by Federal law, but some non-automatic civilian derivatives look like real AK's, and some don't.


Civilian AK (Saiga)


SKS (my wife's)


Civilian AK (my SAR-1)

To a police officer unfamiliar with civilian guns, a Saiga and an SKS might look more similar than a Saiga and a SAR-1, hence the misunderstanding. Or someone who was only familiar with the functionality of military weapons and not civilian guns, might thing a civilian AK lookalike was an SKS because civvie AK lookalikes are non-automatic, like an SKS. You could also mistake one for the other if you only saw the forend or didn't notice the receiver shape.

Don't underestimate the fog of initial bad intel, though. If I'm not mistaken, some early reports of the Trolley Square shooting said the shooter used an "AK-47"; it turned out to be a pump-action hunting shotgun. And I know at least incident in which an M1911 pattern .45 caliber pistol was initially reported as an "AK-47," probably due to a miscommunication.



BTW, I can't say for sure because the resolution is so low, but I think the photo on the KXLY web site is of an actual military AK-47, not a civilian-legal lookalike; it looks like you can see the receiver cut for a full-auto selector position, unless I'm mistaking a highlight on the magwell dimple for an auto notch.

[WilliamPitt]

19. What was your motivation?

[MichaelHarris]

26. photography

street journalism.

[lostnotforgotten]

20. Dounts - Pretty Sad That This Is All It Takes To Bribe The Press!

eom

[Squatch]

22. You ever hang out at the Garden Lounge?

That was our post-Mt Moscow MTB hangout while I was at WSU back in the mid 1990's. Sometimes I preferred the more laid-back atmosphere of the Moscow scene to the frenetic, hormone-laden one in Pullman.

[MichaelHarris]

27. Moscow

has better hippies than Pullman :)

[qdemn7]

23. Good stuff at the Wikipedia link

The similar appearance between assault weapons and machine guns was implied by Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center (VPC), years before the federal ban was passed. In his March 1989 paper titled "Assault Weapons: Analysis, New Research and Legislation," Sugarmann wrote that, "Assault weapons are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons – anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun – can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons."

An unpublished 2004 study commissioned by the DOJ found that "Assault weapons (AW) were used in only a small fraction of gun crimes prior to the ban: about 2% according to most studies and no more than 8%. Most of the assault weapons used in crime are assault pistols rather than assault rifles.

The whole "assault weapons" thing is just a big PR Con Job created by Brady and the VPC. Nothing more.

Your lack of knowledge about guns, and your questions are just another example of why gun owners have a profound and well-founded distrust of the media.

[MichaelHarris]

28. I'd rather trust guns

I've had guns all my life, even assault rifles. I never had or owned an SKS. I don't sit in libraries and read about ballistics and grain weights. Does that make me gun ignorant?

[qdemn7]

30. Really?

So you have owned an NFA machine gun? That's what an "assault rifle" is, a machine gun. If you don't know the difference between an "assault rifle" and a semi-auto rifle, then THAT makes you gun ignorant. And yes, not knowing something about ballistics and grain weights DOES make you ignorant. And you don't have to "sit in libraries", buying and reading some popular gun magazines would be a start.

[MichaelHarris]

31. LOL

thanks, go shoot something. You'll feel better.